The California Golden Bears climbed back to .500 in the Pac-10 with a dominant 50-17 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley. The Bears rebounded from an ugly display at USC a week ahead of the start of a two-game road trip to Oregon State and Washington State.
The Bears started off relatively slow exchanging field goals with ASU on the first two drives. However, from that point on the Bears offense and defense took over. Following Arizona State’s game opening field goal, Cal put together 40 unanswered points, while ASU’s remaining 14 points came from a blocked punt and a Cal fumble, both returned for touchdowns. ASU put together a 75-yard drive to start the game, but managed a combined 141 yards the rest of the game.
A week after Cal could muster next to nothing on offense, Kevin Riley and Shane Vereen blew up against the Sun Devils. Vereen carried the ball for 106 yards and two touchdowns while Riley threw for 225 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Bears were set up with great field position on numerous occasions thanks to turnovers and great punt and kick returns.
The Bears will now head on the road to face Oregon State and Washington State, before returning home for a monster matchup with the #2 team in the BCS rankings, the Oregon Ducks. Cal has yet to win on the road, but a strong road trip would provide much-needed confidence heading into their battle with Oregon.